US has offered India co-production of armoured carriers along with Israel: Government

The US has made an offer to India to develop and produce armoured personnel carriers as part of a trilateral venture also involving Israel, the government said today.

Replying to a question, minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre, however, said discussions on the proposal have not been completed.

The APCs are armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.

Asked about government retracting the process to acquire a batch of Spike missiles from Israel, Bhamre said the decision was taken as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was developing the weapon.

He said there is no government decision to buy 8,000 anti-tank guided missiles from Israel’s state-owned defence contractor.

In November last year, the defence ministry had decided to retract the process to acquire a batch of Spike missiles from Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.

Subsequently, the ministry had asked the DRDO to develop similar missiles with indigenous technology.

Official sources had said the proposal to acquire the missile system from the Israeli firm faced hurdles when it apparently expressed reservations in ensuring full transfer of technology as per the provisions of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

They said the government is considering purchase of Spike missiles from Israel through the government-to- government route to meet immediate requirement as it will take at least 4-5 years for the DRDO to produce the weapon system.

India’s defence ties with the US and Israel have been on an upswing in the recent years.